The present invention relates to an apparatus for providing air conditioning and heating for a truck. The apparatus is specially adapted to provide a temperature regulated environment for a sleeper compartment of the truck when the truck is not running.
Various approaches to heating and cooling vehicles are known. Generally, the vehicles are heated by a heat pump unit and cooled by an air conditioner unit. These climate control units are generally powered, directly or indirectly, by the vehicle's engine or primary battery. Often, an inverter is used to convert direct current supplied by the vehicle's primary battery into alternating current for use by the climate control unit. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,660 to Farr et al.
Sometimes, alternative sources of power for the climate control units are used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,678 to Mellum et al. shows the use of an auxiliary fuel-burning engine to supply power to the climate control units of a truck.
In vehicles where an occupant may sleep in the vehicle, or spend a long period of time in the vehicle, while the engine is not running there remains a need to power climate control units without relying on the power sources thus far identified. It is desirous not to run the engine for many reasons, including reducing the wear and tear on the engine, fuel savings, improved air quality from reduced emissions and compliance with "no idle" laws. If the primary battery were used to power the climate control units while the engine is not running, the primary battery's charge could be depleted and it would not be able to perform its other duties.